When you play Daily Fantasy Baseball, where do you look for bargains? Do you roster young guys who are unproven? Do you target players just off the disabled list? Maybe you just start anybody facing Brad Peacock? Those are all legitimate places to find daily values, but I tend to look at part-time players who produce as well or better than full-time players, when given the opportunity.

There may be a few reasons why these players do not play every day, none of which have anything to do with their fantasy production. Many of these players have very large platoon splits. Justin Ruggiano has no business starting against a tough right-hander, but few lesser-name batters are better against southpaws. Somebody like Delmon Young plays sparingly because he is a defensive liability, but there is nothing wrong with his bat. Sometimes teams just have a logjam at a given position and have to leave a very good player on the bench. After all, it isn’t Allen Craig’s fault the Red Sox have eight good outfielders on their roster as of this writing. Danny Valencia’s career wOBA (weighted on-base average, which attempts to accurately reflect a player’s hitting exploits into actual run value—the number is reflected using on-base percentage like numbers so anything over .340 is solid work, anything over .375 is impressive) against left-handed pitchers is better than Adrian Beltre’s, but Beltre will almost certainly cost more in daily games. These kinds of players are great for daily games, as they produce when they are in the lineup, but they often cost less than comparable full-time players. 

Players like Valencia or Ike Davis can also be useful in full-season leagues if used the right way. If you are able to sit them against same-handed pitchers, they can help your team quite a bit, especially in AL-only leagues. These are also great late-week pickups in head-to-head leagues when you need a couple extra runs or RBI to pull out a win.

When it comes to actually choosing which part-time players to target, there are a few guidelines. The most important is to never look at single-season splits. There just are not enough at-bats in a single season for us to draw any meaningful conclusions. Ian Kinsler led all of Major League Baseball with 726 plate appearances last season. He only had 180 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers. We cannot draw any meaningful conclusions from 180 plate appearances. If we do not know what to make of Kinsler’s .281/.313/.427 line against lefties last season, what are we supposed to do with even smaller samples?

This should go without saying, but if we cannot trust single-season splits, we certainly cannot trust batter vs. pitcher data. Maybe Salvador Perez owns Justin Verlander, and that accounts for his .429/.405/.714 career line against Verlander. It also possible that Perez has gotten "lucky" in his 35 at-bats against Verlander. Since we have no way of knowing for certain, it is best to put little faith in those types of numbers. 

The following players should not be ignored. When they start for their MLB teams, they should probably start for your teams as well.

VERSUS LEFT-HANDED PITCHING

Danny Valencia, 3B, Blue Jays

I feel sorry for any southpaws who have to face the Blue Jays. Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Josh Donaldson have destroyed lefties in their careers and Russell Martin is one of the better catchers in the league against lefties. If you can get through those guys, you have to contend with Valencia, who is not nearly as accomplished a hitter as those other guys but is just as good against lefties.

Craig Gentry, OF, Athletics

If you have dramatic platoon splits, chances are Billy Beane will acquire you at some point in your career. Gentry’s .331 wOBA against lefties is far better than his .290 wOBA against righties.

Justin Ruggiano, OF, Mariners

Ruggiano is the perfect platoon-mate for Seth Smith in Seattle as Ruggiano has batted .266/.329/.508 against lefties over his career.

Dayan Viciedo, OF, White Sox

The Melky Cabrera signing could mean Viciedo’s days as an everyday player are over unless he is dealt. Viciedo owns a .359 career wOBA against lefties and a .299 mark against righties.

Allen Craig, OF, Red Sox

As bad as Craig was last season, he still slugged .126 higher against lefties than against righties. For his career, Craig owns a .361 wOBA against lefties. 

Cody Ross, OF, Diamondbacks

At times throughout his career, Ross has been miscast as an everyday player, but his .389 wOBA against lefties speaks for itself.

Jonny Gomes, OF, FA

Gomes’s name has been floating around as a free agent target, not only for his veteran leadership but also his ability to hit left-handed pitching. Gomes owns an impressive .373 wOBA against lefties over his career. 

Rajai Davis, OF, Tigers

Davis will likely be the right-handed part of a center-field platoon with Anthony Gose and for good reason. Davis owns a career .353 wOBA against left-handed pitchers and his stolen base potential makes him even more valuable for fantasy. 

Ryan Raburn, OF, Indians

The Rays and Athletics are probably the most well-known teams for using platoons, but the Indians have two of the best bench bats against lefties in Raburn and Mike Aviles. Raburn owns a career .345 wOBA against lefties in his career and his poor 2014 numbers will only serve to keep his price down in daily games.

Mike Aviles, 3B, Indians

Aviles has long been one of my favorite players for fantasy thanks to his ability to play multiple positions and hit against lefties. He owns a .318 wOBA against lefties compared to .294 against righties.

Chris Iannetta, C, Angels

Iannetta is a much better play in formats that do not penalize hitters for strikeouts, as he has struck out in more than 23 percent of his at-bats in each of the last three seasons. Fortunately for fantasy players, he has slashed .259/.379/.441 against lefties over that time. He is a great play in two-catcher leagues where you can sit him against righties.

Delmon Young, OF, Orioles

Young has batted .290/.328/.442 against lefties over the last three seasons. Even though he has been around forever, he is just 29 years old. He is no longer an everyday player, but he can still hit.

VERSUS RIGHT-HANDED PITCHING

, 1B, White Sox

LaRoche may not technically be a part-time player, though if White Sox manager Robin Ventura is smart, he will sit LaRoche against lefties with Jose Abreu playing first base and the aforementioned Viciedo at DH. Regardless of how the Sox use him, you should only use Adam against right-handed pitchers. LaRoche is an especially good play at home, as U.S. Cellular Field is routinely among the best hitters’ parks in the game.

Chris Coghlan, OF, Cubs

Coghlan experienced a career resurgence last season, in part because the Cubs gave him three times as many at-bats against righties as against lefties. Coghlan batted .294/.353/.480 against righties last season and .282/.346/.425 against them over his career.

Matt Joyce, OF, Angels

Joyce has a career .261/.356/.463 triple slash against RHP compared to .189/.258/.316 against LHP. 

Seth Smith, OF, Mariners

In parts of eight seasons with three different teams, all Smith has ever done is hit right-handed pitching to the tune of a .362 career wOBA. That has value.

John Jaso, C, Athletics

Jaso is a target in two-catcher leagues. He has never reached 110 games played in a single season, but he is effective when in the lineup with a .359 career OBP. Jaso is batting over 100 points higher against righties than against lefties in his career.

Ike Davis, 1B, Athletics

Davis is yet another example of a failed prospect whose value increased dramatically when he stopped playing every day. Davis’s .259 wOBA against left-handers is abysmal and has somewhat overshadowed his .353 mark against righties. The Athletics will limit Davis’s at-bats against lefties, which will maximize his fantasy value.

Dioner Navarro, C, Blue Jays

Navarro held his own as a starter last season in Toronto, though he is far better suited to his current role backing up Russell Martin. Navarro owns an .845 OPS against lefties over the last three seasons compared to just .729 against righties.

Daniel Nava, OF, Red Sox

The bright spot in Boston’s outfield logjam is that Daniel Nava will never have to face another left-hander again, as he did 67 times in 2014 for a .399 OPS. Nava’s OPS against right-handed pitchers is .813 for his career. That kind of player can be quite valuable if used correctly.

Will Venable, OF, Padres

Venable’s numbers came back down to earth in 2014 after a career-year in 2013, though his numbers against righties have been fairly consistent. For his career he owns a .325 wOBA against them.

Carlos Quentin, OF, Padres

Quentin has only been slightly better against righties than lefties in his career, but he is on this list simply as a reminder that he has value in any format while he is actually healthy. Health and defense are legit concerns, but his bat is not.